Metronome #090: Gina Turner

Insomniac’s Metronome series features mixes from some of today’s fastest-rising electronic stars, as well as championed legends. It takes listeners deep across a wide range of genres, movements, cultures, producers, artists and sounds that make up the diverse world of electronic music.

It has been said that the rave experience can be transformational, and that the act of dancing to electronic music can often feel like you’re having a spiritual awakening. Gina Turner’s latest project, the Divine Movement, aims to recreate that mental and physical journey while moving beyond the traditional club environment via music, yoga, meditation, tarot, numerology, massage, healings and workshops.

In addition to her busy schedule as a top-shelf producer and DJ, radio personality, and badass mom and wife—she calls fellow globetrotting DJ/producer Laidback Luke her boo—she’s held a yoga teaching certification for many years. Yet it wasn’t until more recently that she realized she could combine her love for house music and techno with the transformational practice of yoga—hence the Divine Movement. She’s currently taking her new project on the road and hitting up yoga studios and festivals worldwide.

In her Metronome mix, Gina Turner takes listeners deep inside one of her celebrated yoga sessions via gorgeous, atmospheric beats before breaking into her brand of booty-shaking house and techno, which fans have grown to love and expect from this one-woman industry.

There are lots of ways people have combined yoga and dance music. What makes the Divine Movement different?
The Divine Movement is an event concept I created with my event partner, Tim Rothschild, where we combine yoga, meditation, spirituality, numerology, dancing and much more. What’s different about our project is that we are a little bit more realistic in terms of executing our events. Many wellness festivals are dry or encourage staying sober to party, which is great, but we really created this to support our hectic lifestyles on the road. We find that something beautiful is created when we bring everyone together in a mediation led by Tim that lasts 30 minutes but makes your body feel like you slept for two hours. Then I lead a yoga class and bring everyone in union that way—yoga means to bring together in union. Once they are all stretched and mediated, I start DJing, and it becomes an open-hearted party. Everyone, including me, is super connected with everyone else in the room on so many levels.

What initially inspired you to practice yoga?
Initially, I always did yoga to supplement my dance career or workout regimen, until I had a traumatic accident in Ibiza that could have left me paralyzed. The one thing that saved me from being paralyzed is yoga! And that was the universe smacking me on the head, quite literally, and telling me I needed to explore the teachings of yoga further. I got certified as an instructor, and the rest is history. I’m so happy to spread the word of yoga throughout the world, as it has shaped me as a person and changed my life in many ways! Plus, it’s something you can do anywhere.

Your partner in the Divine Movement is a numerology expert. Can you talk to us about the numerological significance of 4/4, the time signature for house music?
Reality is composed of energy, frequency and vibration, so geometry, numbers and music are all the same thing. When I first started attending Tim’s numerology workshops, I heard him speak about the number four being a foundational number, and my ears perked up instantly, because the foundation of every house track and my life revolves around the number four. Even my birthday is a four—July 31—3+1=4. [Editor’s note: Gina Turner’s Metronome mix has a run time of 44:44.]

Number four in numerology is connected with roots, foundation, physical body energy, hard work and completeness. There are four seasons, four main elements, and four sides of direction: north, south, east and west. Number four also has the energy of crossroads and tests that a human soul in a body has to go through in order to reach enlightenment. Number four symbolizes borders and limits; explorers of consciousness have to travel “beyond four seas” to discover something new and leave the limits of vanity in everyday life. Just like house music is always something I can rely on to get me through life no matter where I am, the steady 4/4 kick drum is pulsating through my soul, acting as my inner compass, and reminding me how lucky I am to be here. I’ll never miss a beat.

On your Instagram page, you shared a Facebook post from Eli Escobar where he talked about how the things many DJs complain about the most don’t bother him at all, because everyone is there to have a good time. One of those things was getting requests as a DJ. When was the last time you were able to fulfill a request from a fan onstage or otherwise?
This is a funny question! Early in my career, I used to get so pissed off at requests, as they used to be from people who didn’t understand house music and just wanted to hear hip-hop or something. Now that people truly understand my sound and my vibe, the requests sometimes make sense, and I try to do my best to keep their requests in mind! The last time I fulfilled a request was when a little girl asked me for a very specific song. I didn’t have it, and I needed to download it for her, and I completely threw it on out of nowhere. It was a song I wouldn’t normally play, as it’s too poppy, but I was happy to make this 8-year-old’s day! (It was OMI’s “Cheerleader,” by the way.)

Luke mentioned in an interview that your daughter, EvaLina, has already started taking to DJing on your controller. Was that a passing phase, or is she still a little DJ toddler?
EvaLina loves to DJ! In fact, while I mixed this mix, she had her controller next to my CDJs and was pretending to DJ with me.

Any new tunes coming out soon?
I am working on a series that combines more spiritual music and house music. For the first release, I teamed up with one of my favorite kirtan singers and harmonium players, and we did a track in Sanskrit. The next one I am working on is with a shaman from Peru; he’s singing an ancient healing-of-the-heart song. And I was commissioned by Michelle Obama to do a remix that should be out soon. Yes, Michelle Obama—so I made it really Dance Mania, Chicago house style!

Track List:: Beautiful Chorus “Positivity”
Sporting Life “Hydrate the Hustle”
Will Clarke & DJ Funk “Booty Percolatin’”
YOS & Ben Finx ft. KE “This Life” (Gina Turner Remix)
Kid Enigma “Dangerous”
Alec Troniq “Knock Knock Knock Knock”
Sam Paganini “The Beat”
Gina Turner & Tony Quattro “That Trumpet Track”
Cassy “Keep Trying”
Pirupa “Cristallo”
Kidnap Kid “Fall” (Oxia Remix)
Black Coffee ft. Cara Frew “I’ll Find You”
m.O.N.R.O.E. “Seeing Things”